Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-02-17
ODD CHARACTERS.
Bnilor Bits Story and Other Tales q wis
cOnsin Lumbermen.

| the woods" said Wisconsin lumber.
man to a reporter, twas man whom
| we called Sailor Bill, as he had been a
sailor before he became lumberman.
He was marked by long, ugly scar.
reaching from one eye across his nose
to the corner of his mouth. He was
not over thirty-five years old, and was
very intelligent. When he was sober
he claimed to be Vermonter; when
he was a little under the influence of
| LIQUOR he said he was born in Italy, and
when he was more than half seas over,
he invariably insisted that he was a
! full-blooded Irishlnan, born in Dublin.
He was the best-hcarted man l ever
met. His story was very interesting.
When nine years of age he ran away
and went to sea as d cabin-hoy. For
years he was knocked and kicked
about, but he pluckily. kept at it for
eighteen years, During most of this
time he made himself proficient in
French and Spanish and kept diary of
what he saw and experienced. The
way he came to leave the sea included
the story of his ugly scar. He was
boatswain of the ship he was with and
they were sailing from Melbourne to
San Francisco. Bad winds prevailed,
the passage was slow and provisions
began to run short. The captain be-
gan to get scared and put the crew on
short rations. They rebelled, APP
pointed Bill leader, and resolved to
take the ship. He, as spokesman, ac-
costed the mate and told him the men
must have full rations. He and the
men were ordered back to work, and
at their refusal the mate suddenly
pulled out dirk-knife and slashed it
across Bill face. The two men clinched,
and the next thing was that the mate
was dead. The captain and several
others were then tied up and the mu-
tineers had the ship to themselves.
They managed to reach San Francisco,
and the moment they touched the dock
they jumped ashore without fastening
their vessel and scattered as best they
could. Bill then went into the mining
region, and one day was surprised to
come across notice that five hundred
dollars was offered for his head. He
at once made arrangements to change
localities and drove mulc-team over
lard.
Zone of the incest men that I met
among the lumbermen-you will be
surprised to hear of such man doing
such work-was an Englishman who
was an Oxford graduate and belonged
to one of the oldest families. He was
about twenty-five years old, fine
artist and spoke four or five different
languages. He was a big, powerful
man, but perfect gentleman always,
and was man whom all the men look
ed up to. He prefers the life and fol-
lows it from choice. He is sure of
enough property from his family to
make him rich. He left his home be-
cause of disagreement with his father
for taking the part of IA brother who
had incurred the governors displeas-
ure. He is man of wonderful nerve,
and works as hard and as regular as
the rest of the men at chopping.
"a very odd character and regular
daredevil was an Irishman named
William Seymour, whom we called
Black Bill because of his dark, swarthy
complexion. He was of medium size,
but remarkably powerful and Won
derful chopper. remember one day
in spring, week or so before we
broke camp, we were working near
the river, and the two men
who sawed in two the logs Bill
chopped decided to run" him-that is.
to work so fast cutting up his trees that
he could not keep ahead of them. Bill
saw what they were up to. and then
for two hours there was some of the
liveliest work ever done in those woods.
During that time Bill worked like a
steam-engine, and for every cut the
two men made he chopped down tree.
1t was most remarkable performance.
and in the two hours he chopped down
about fifty trees, some Of which were
as much as two feet in thickness. Bill
was very popular with the men and
ever ready to lend helping hand.
One day the foreman fell off log into
the river and got under jam of logs,
managing, however, to get to spot
where he could keep his head out OF
water. Bill heard his cries, and rush.
ing over the logs in the jam succeeded
in guiding the foreman to a place where
he could get out. One of his peculiar
tiles was that he would frequently go
out chopping in the snow in his stock
ing feet. ~. Y. Mail and Express.
HOW TO GO SHOPPING.
A Lady's Sensible and Timely Appeal to
Her Sisters Everywhere.